Lodge Freeway Closed Due To Water Main Break

Neighborhood under water following water main break near Lodge Freeway. (WWJ Photo/Sandra McNeil)

DETROIT (WWJ – Part of the Lodge Freeway and a nearby neighborhood were under several feet of water following a water main break Thursday afternoon on the Detroit’s west side.

A number of vehicles were stranded and traffic remained closed Thursday evening in both directions at Livernois where the flood waters were 4 feet deep.

(WWJ Photo/Sandra McNeil)

WWJ’s Alisa Zee said the southbound side was shut down at Wyoming and the northbound side at the Davison. (For either side, try I-75 or I-96 as an alternate route).

Talking to WWJ Newsradio 950’s Sandra McNeil, Otis Perry said he couldn’t resist taking a ride on his bike through the water to check things out.

“It’s like a river down there on the expressway,” Perry said. “That little car down there looks like it’s floating away. They better get that one quick!”

A number of wreckers were on the scene working to pull vehicles out.

Local roads were also flooded.

Petoskey Street resident James Mace arrived home just in time to watch helplessly as the water rose over the top of his car doors and creeped close to his front door.

He said he’s going to need a ride to work — and he’s not the only one. Several of his neighbors’ cars were under water.

“The guy’s car right there is stopped because the state police department tried to push his car forward but he got stuck,” said Mace. “Evidently he made it out of his vehicle, but it was very bad. It’s so bad that the water’s leading up to the step way.”

No injuries have yet been reported as a result of the flooding.

Detroit Water Department officials said they had to gradually shut down the water in order to not cause problems elsewhere in the system. And until the water is shut off they won’t be able to locate the break to repair.

It was not immediately clear how long that would take or what had caused the break.

For the latest from the roads anytime, keep it tuned to WWJ for traffic and weather on the 8s, 24 hours-a-day. (Visit our traffic page).

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Sandra McNeill started her career as a newspaper reporter in a small town in England called Wokingham. Her daily walk to the police station to find out what was happening that day invariably came up...